Tesla's $20B Short-Seller Bonanza Has Bears Crying "Short Me, Elon!" 🚀📉

Short sellers betting against Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX private market positions have booked nearly $20 billion in paper profits as both assets slid sharply this month, according to data from S3 Partners and Ortex Technologies.

Tesla shares closed at $319.69 on Thursday after falling nearly 15%, the stock's steepest single-session decline in a year. The drop followed the electric vehicle maker's second-quarter earnings report, which revived investor doubts about the company's costly artificial intelligence and robotics roadmap. Tesla does not have a listed stock ticker on a public exchange like $BTC trades on crypto venues; investors access the equity through the TSLA listing on Nasdaq.

Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director at S3 Partners, said the one-day move alone translated to roughly $4.12 billion of mark-to-market losses for Tesla longs, with short interest running at about 3% of shares outstanding. Separate Ortex data on SpaceX private holdings showed similar downward pressure on Musk's privately held rocket and satellite-internet firm, contributing to the combined short-paper profit figure approaching the $20 billion mark.

BNP Paribas analyst James Picariello reiterated a sell rating on Tesla with a $280 price target, arguing that expectations tied to Tesla's AI plans remain elevated. "As Tesla continues to pursue ambitious AI goals via an exceedingly aggressive capex timeline, we weigh severe caution on the speed of its AI progress ramp — and the significantly high bar already embedded in the stock's valuation," Picariello said.

The slide comes as Musk has deepened his involvement with political spending and his Department of Government Efficiency work, themes that several analysts have flagged as potential drags on Tesla demand and brand sentiment, though S3 and Ortex did not directly attribute the moves to any single catalyst.